On
that morning of September 11th, 2001 many questions went through
Americans' minds. Who did this? Why did they do
this? were some of the commons questions
Americans asked. Almost every American
knew the U.S.A. would respond with force.
We thought our response would be powerful, it would be swift--it would be
decisive. We didn't think it would take
years to hunt down Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks. We didn't think we would also take out Saddam
Hussein in Iraq. We didn't think we
would be engaged in military conflict in the Middle East for over a
decade. And we didn't think on the
twelfth anniversary of this attack we would be debating about starting a third
war in Syria. Most Americans didn't
think this, but some did. Some foresaw
that this one act of terror as the birth of War Incorporated. The United States declared a War on
Terror. Not a war against a nation, a
regime, but on a military tactic. Any organization
that employs "terrorism" was now our enemy.

Such a vague term that can be applied by our own discretion. With this declaration how could we ever find
ourselves not involved in a conflict somewhere around the globe? And now with Iraq wrapped up, and troops
pulling out of Afghanistan we find ourselves having to get involved in Syria
over the deaths of a thousand civilians.
President Obama has promised no troops on the ground, but once we get
involved it will only take the death of one American soldier to give the military
the option to renege on that pledge.
Getting involved is literally playing with fire. We are told our involvement is for moral
reasons, to support our allies, and to make the situation better. These reasons are not justified by the
facts.

The truth is we are getting
involved to keep the war machine going.
To keep War Incorporated in business.

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On
August 21th 2013, hundreds of Syrians civilians were killed by the
means of the nerve gas Sarin. It is
alleged that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad used the gas in Ghouta, a Damascus
Suburb, in opposition controlled neighborhoods.
It is not conclusive that Assad's regime was behind the attacks. There is evidence out there to suggest that
the rebels were behind the attack to draw western intervention as Russian
President Vladimir Putin has suggested.
I have no primary source information to accuse one group or the other,
but let's say for the sake of argument that Assad was behind this attack. That a president of a country has used
chemical weapons against his people in the midst of his country's two-year
civil war against his regime. Even if
that is true, that does not give the United States the moral standing to get
involved. We lost that right years ago.

The
moral reason is that chemical weapons were used. A phrase heard amongst the faction that
justifies U.S. interaction is that chemical weapons do not discriminate between
soldier and child. That is true about
chemical weapons. That is also true
about nuclear weapons. We are the only
country in the history of the world to use nuclear warfare on another
nation. Up to a quarter of a million
people were killed in the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I'm sure some children died in those attacks
too. But
hey Japan attacked us first, and it was used to end World War II. And we warned them. Also the use of them wasn't
illegal--because no one knew about the power of this weapon--so we are okay to
use them, and to keep them in our arsenal.
But our indiscriminate killing of Asians did not end in 1945. We dropped tons of napalm during the Vietnam
War. But chemical weapons were not
banned internationally until 1997 by the United Nations, so when the U.S. used
napalm it was legal then.

So it was also
moral, too? No, it wasn't moral, but yes
it was legal according to international law.

Still using these deaths to get involved does not seem like a moral
reason, but more of a technicality, when you consider that over 100,000 Syrians
have died up to this point and we felt no motivation to get involved then. Why were those deaths less valuable to
us? Why did we have no moral reason to
get involved? Making a case for military
action after these 1000 deaths, but not the 100,000 before, is as moral as permitting
100 rapes, but against the last one because Rohypnol was used. A chemical not being involved doesn't make
the crime any less gruesome. But still
chemical weapons are illegal in the international stage. It is an indiscriminate killer, and even
though the U.S. used to use similar weapons, we have learned from our past and
no longer use indiscriminate means of killing--unless of course you count our
drone strikes.

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There are more than
enough dead children out there, victims from our remote controlled drones we
have used in our conflicts in the Middle East and still continue to use. So where is our moral high ground that does
not permit us to use unmanned drones? We
have used chemical weapons before, we sat by and let over 100,000 people die, and
we currently use attack drones to bomb whoever is in the target's sight. From the guerilla tactics we used in our War
for Independence we have never taken the higher ground when it came to military
tactics. Why should we judge anyone
else?

Aside
from moral reasons what is another popular reason to get involved in a military
conflict--to help out our allies. Our
number one ally--Great Britain--in their parliament voted against any military
intervention in Syria on August 29th. The United Nations has not yet even declared
Assad responsible for the chemical attack.
Our borderline allies who would also be formidable enemies--Russia and
China--do not want us to get involved and have warned us against it. If we take action we will be going alone, and
run the risk of retaliation from most likely Russia. So what allies are we going to battle for,
the Syrian Rebels? The Syrian rebellion
is not a centralized rebellion. There
are many factions fighting for control.
One of the most successful rebel force is Jabhat al-Nusra--a terrorist
organization that is affiliated with Al Qaeda.
We are thinking about engaging in a war for the benefit of our sworn
enemy Al Qaeda? This is the equivalent
of in 1944 attacking the Soviet Union for the benefit of the Nazi's in the
midst of World War II. Attacking Syria
is not an action we are thinking of doing for the benefit of our allies.

So
we really don't have a moral reason, or a reason to do it for our allies. But what if we just want to make the
situation better? 100,000 dead is a
situation that could use improvement.
But what would actually come out of our influence in Syria? If Assad falls out of power there is not a
clear cut regime to replace him. Our
actions will manage to destabilize the region more so. Also where ever we go and drop bombs we
create new enemies. Family members will
be lost in our bombings and their loved ones who survived will want revenge--and
they would run into the arms of Al Qaeda to get their vengeance. Jabhat al-Nusra is not the largest, but it is
one of the strongest forces fighting in Syria.
Is it hard to believe that once Assad is toppled more Al Qaeda aligned
fighters would be making their way to Syria to help gain control? Our actions could enable Al Qaeda--that is
running out of gas--to acquire a new foot-hole for a base of operations in the
Middle East, this time in Syria--a nation that shares its Southwestern border
with Israel. Our involvement in Syria
cannot make this horrible situation any better.

So
what can be our reason to want to get involved? It is not for moral reasons, to help out any
allies, or to make the situation better.
When all else fails, follow the money.
Since World War II, war machines--planes, tanks, ships--have become an
established industry like cars and televisions.
We learned after Pearl Harbor we needed to have equipment always ready
when necessary. These machines were
always in demand during the Cold War as we competed against the Soviet
Union. The flow chart of how these
machines are funded is tax dollars - congress - defense
contractors - military. Congress distributes tax dollars to defense
contractors to build these machines that are to be used by the military. And so the Military Industrial Congressional
Complex was formed, or as president Dwight D. Eisenhower shortened it in his
farewell address--The Military Industrial Complex.

" In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether
sought or unsought, by the military--industrial complex. " --Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961.

Can we
really deny this phenomena? Is it still
a conspiracy if a president admits its existence? If this complex was established during
Eisenhower's presidency, circa 1953-1961, let's compare our involvement in wars
before and after its establishment:

Drew D'Amato is the author of the novels Social Studies and Bloodlines. He also has a masters degree in history, and has taught at the high school and college levels. When not writing he spends his time getting himself into trouble.

"Rob Kalls Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution takes a very holistic view of bottom-up thinking and action, from changes in our psychology to our systems of work, living and governance. As someone who's been working to make bottom-up economics a reality for over 30 years, this book reinforces the need for and potential of redirecting our priorities-- and resources--from the few at the top to the many at the bottom."

Anthony Flaccavento, author of Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up

Author Mark Taliano combines years of research with on-the-ground observations to present an informed and well-documented analysis that refutes the mainstream media narrative.